What Texans need to know about helping people register to vote or cast ballots

Despite the rarity of voter fraud, state lawmakers in 2021 passed additional voting regulations, including new ID requirements for voting by mail and how people can assist voters.

Proponents of the legislation have said they wanted to protect voters and prevent fraud.

“There’s been testimony about people who are claiming to assist the voters in fact are voting for them, voting against their will, telling them how to vote when the voters do not want them to,” state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, said during the 2021 debate over Senate Bill 1. “That’s what this provision is about.”

Democrats say the added regulations restrict voters’ access to voting.And a court in 2022 blocked parts of the law restricting voter assistance after declaring it violated federal law.

“It’s totally unnecessary,” said state Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat from Grand Prairie.

Eligible voters still have the right to get help registering to vote and casting a ballot, including interpretation. If a voter cannot physically sign or mark a form, they can choose someone to be their “witness” and print their name for them.

However, various state rules outline how much help can be provided or who can provide the help.

“The best rule of thumb if you’re going to be an assister or witness is that the voter themselves asks for assistance,” said Jennifer Doinoff, the Hays County elections administrator.

The person providing assistance must usually disclose who they are and may have to sign an oath. Assistance can generally come from an election worker or a person of the voter’s choosing. Voters cannot get assistance filling out a ballot from their employer or an agent of their employer or union. It’s usually recommended for the person assisting to be a family member or someone the voter knows and trusts.

Registering to vote:

Anyone can help share information about the voter registration process and share applications to register to vote. But only deputy voter registrars can collect and submit the registrations under a specific process in which they must give receipts to the person seeking to vote and the county voter registrar’s office. Otherwise, the person seeking to register must generally submit or mail the application themselves.

Elderly and disabled voters:

Voters 65 years or older and voters with a disability may also get help voting by mail or with curbside voting if they cannot enter a polling location. Voters don’t typically need to prove they have a disability or need assistance.

Voting by mail:

An application for a ballot by mail requires a witness if the voter cannot sign the application for themself. A person can serve as a witness only for one application, unless additional applications are for their parent, grandparent, spouse, child or sibling. Early voting clerks or deputy early voting clerks can also serve as witnesses for multiple applications for ballots by mail.

And while an assistant can help mail a mail-in ballot application or ballot, they cannot deliver it by hand in person to a county elections office, Doinoff said. Generally, only the mail-in voter themselves can return the ballot in person to the early voting clerk’s office with an approved ID on Election Day.

In some circumstances, voters may be able to correct election-related forms or their ballots, but county elections officials recommend that voters not familiar with voting or assistance processes call their local county elections office if they have any questions.

“It is our desire for people’s votes to count, so we want to make sure that everybody’s doing it correctly the first time, so that we can ensure that their ballot will be counted,” Doinoff said.

Find more information about assisting voters through the Texas Secretary of State’s office, Disability Rights Texas or the Tribune’s voter guides.